[Free PMP PDU] Six Sigma White Belt Certification Program

Summary: Six Sigma Online provides a free Six Sigma White Belt  Training and Certification. You just need to watch a video, read four PDF files (3-6 pages each) and pass the online quiz to get your certificate. As Six Sigma is mentioned in the quality management section of PMP, time spent on getting the Six Sigma White Belt Certification can used to claim PMP PDU. Below are my notes taken during my study.

Understanding Six Sigma – Part 1 [Video]

The Six Sigma Strategy

• improve customer satisfaction & shareholder value
• reducing variability in every aspect of your business

Why Six Sigma

• deliver customer satisfaction & cost improvement results faster
• every dollar spent bring 4 dollars saving to the bottom line
• 3 sigma (historical standard) = 93.32% perfection
• 4 sigma (current standard) = 99.38% perfection
• 6 sigma = 99.9997% perfection
• as sigma increases, cost and cycle time go down, customer satisfaction goes up

White Belt Lesson 1: What is Six Sigma

• Six Sigma is a quality management methodology: to continually achieve near perfect products/services that meet/exceed expectations while reducing resources input (with little or no waste) by streamlining the processes
• Six Sigma is statistical: sigma=standard deviation, aim to achieve 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO)
• To carry out Six Sigma: Step 1 – discover all problems within an organization (may/may not be apparent) through research and data collection; Step 2 – take appropriate action to reduce the number of errors and reworks by tackling the critical issues first by using tools and theories to devise plans to minimize defects
• not quick-fix but systematic approaches to control all aspects of the process through change management
• 3 key holders of quality: the customer (to define the quality), the employee (must be led/trained to satisfy customers on quality requirements, deeply rooted in teamwork, everyone is responsible) and the process (the steps involved must work together to achieve quality)

White Belt Lesson 2: Six Sigma History

• most popular business practices used today
• first used in the mid-1980 by Motorola Corporation, reported saving of 16+ billion dollars
• Carl Frederick Gauss (1777-1855) introduced the normal curve and standard deviation
• Walter Shewhart advocated 3 sigma for production process
• in 1972, a Japaness firm took up a factory of Motorola and achieved 1/20 of original defect rate
• in 1987, CEO of Motorola launched the Six Sigma Quality Program
• by mid-1990, major companies like G.E. adopted Six Sigma
• originally used in production: a process that uses statistics, solutions and data to solve problems (more cost effective, efficient and less time consuming) instead of trial and error (guesswork)
• Six Sigma is now not limited to production, but also popular in hospitals, toy makers, clothing retailers, financial services, banks, and the military

What is Six Sigma now

• a management system: ensure improvements are sustained and accelerate results
• a metric system: a scale of quality (3.4 defects per million)
• a methodology: i) understanding the needs of the customer, ii) developing processes to meet the needs through statistics and iii) creating sustainable business models

White Belt Lesson 3: Six Sigma Teamwork; Roles and Responsibilities

Six Sigma Certification Level Hierarchy

• Executive Leadership/CEO
• Six Sigma Champion – choosing and sponsoring projects, create a plan for change management
• Six Sigma Master Black Belt – mentor/coach Black Belt, a Black Belt with additional training and experience
• Six Sigma Black Belt – for project team leaders/change agents, a thorough knowledge of Six Sigma philosophies and principles (including supporting systems and tools)
• Six Sigma Green Belt – for team members, enhanced problem-solving
• skills, with an emphasis on the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) model
• Six Sigma Yellow Belt – for support staff, an introduction to process management and the basic tools of Six Sigma using the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) methodology
• Six Sigma White Belt – basic knowledge, for support staff not fully involved in the six sigma process, not fully recognized by the Six Sigma Community

• determine the structure of Six Sigma teams based on organization needs
• usually operate in small teams, teamwork is highly valued
• it is important to make sure employees have high morale and drive to implement the procedures
• competition among teams is desirable

White Belt Lesson 4: DMAIC/DMADV

Perfect existing process DMAIC

1. D: Define – define the goals and requirements of internal/external customers
2. M: Measure – gather current data/information
3. A: Analyze – analyze the data collected and identify critical processes for improvement
4. I: Improve – implement solutions based on the data collected
5. C: Control – obstacles are handled properly and promptly

Create new products/services DMADV

1. D: Define
2. M: Measure
3. A: Analyze
4. D: Design – design of a process to bring the business model into alignment with the goals
5. V: Verify – monitoring and simulation